Friday, June 24, 2005

I'd like to meet the person that said that hang glider pilots are loners. It just isn't so!

The forecast called for light west winds, moderate climbs, blue skies, and 5000 foot top-of-lift. A forecast for westerly winds is always amusing. We have northwest and southwest mountain launches, Morningside with its 450 launch, or Morningside's north-south runway for aerotowing. We can launch from any of them if the winds are light, but no place is ideal. So the "where are you going" phone calls and email messages started early. No one wants to be the only person at a launch when everyone else shows up at the other launches.

I was either going to go to Mount Ascutney, the northwest mountain launch, or aerotowing at Morningside. I had a slight preference for foot launching since I have done a lot of aerotowing recently. I was on the cellphone during most of my 2 hour trip north! The lobbyists in Washington DC have nothing on the pilots around here. There were a few pilots wanting to launch at Ascutney or Morningside. The remaining pilots were "in play". Finally a consensus developed and I headed to Ascutney after I picked up our driver Mimi and Dave at Morningside.

We had a good turnout for a so-so weekday. Another sign that the flying weather around here has been "uninspiring" this season. An unforecasted thick deck of cirrus was rapidly approaching from the northwest and it appeared that the wind was starting its predicted shift to the southwest. It was time to go. The wind was crossing on launch at times, but I managed to find a good cycle and I assume everyone else did also. I flew over to the bowl near the ski area, found a thermal, and climbed to 5600 feet as I drifted back of the mountain. Several other pilots were close by and started heading back to the front of the mountain. I took a look at all the pilots cruising around at launch height and decided to move on. I had a smooth glide across the river and found a weak climb over the Claremont airport. I was ok with the slow climb since it would let the others catch up with me so we could fly east together into the milky blue. No one else was leaving the mountain when that climb finally fizzled. I began to wonder if anyone else was going to leave the mountain. Instead of heading downwind I flew cross wind to a small ridgeline so I could "hang out" but still make Morningside if I missed the climb. I topped out a climb there and finally got word some pilots were leaving the mountain. About that time the cirrus became very thick. It seemed like someone simply turned the sun off. The weak climbs were still there, at least up high. The other pilots approached my area low and eventually landed at Morningside. Meanwhile Michael towed up behind Rhett from Morningside and joined me in a climb. Dave sank out but took a tow to get back into the game. Greg eventually found a climb and the four of us played around Morningside for the afternoon. I continued to find abundant, but weak lift. After landing at Morningside later in the day, I wondered if we gave up on good day simply because the sun was gone.

Monday, June 13, 2005

The forecast for the last day of the East Coast Championship was the same as the previous day that was cancelled. However, the cloud cover broke and the forecasted south wind, 90 degrees cross to the runway, was lighter and was just a bit west of south. Unless Paris landed in the start circle I couldn't win the meet but Bubba and I were dueling for second place. Since I use these smaller meets as training camps, I thought it would be a good time to practice sticking with another pilot and then make a break at the last minute to capture the day. I have heard better, more winnning, pilots talk about their techniques but I have never done this before. I guess it was time to learn! I was the first flex wing pilot to launch. Paris and Bubba were right behind me. I got a slower tow so Bubba and Paris were already climbing by the time I released about a mile away. I came in under them and joined the slow climb. We essentially drifted to the start circle 5 miles away playing around at cloud base which was 2300 feet. We worked a couple weak climbs together and then I made the mistake of leading out towards a line of clouds just upwind of the course line. Paris and Bubba headed to a line of clouds just downwind of course line. Crap. I lost my height advantage cutting across to their line and came in below Paris and at the same height as Bubba. Paris now had enough of a height advantage to use us as markers and keep on top. After another short glide, Bubba and I struggled with a broken weak climb under a cirrus-filled sky. We were wing-tip to wing-tip floating above the trees at 1200 feet. We were drifting slightly off course line, but we couldn't cross a large swath of trees towards goal with our altitude. So we bounced and drifted down wind. Bubba finally gave up and headed downwind. I followed but took a line that cost me about 300 feet. We found some lift on the down wind side of a large field. Bubba had enough extra height to use me as a marker and could therefore extract more precious altitude from the broken little thermal than I could. The climb faded and I was forced to take my 600 feet and float down wind to land in a corn field 10 miles from goal. Bubba had enough extra height to get an extra 3 miles on me to win second place. Paris was the only pilot to make goal. Although I would have enjoyed beating Bubba, it was still a lot of fun racing with him on the last two days. I discovered that "covering" someone is hard and requires a different set of strategies than simple racing. I also discovered that it is much more fun directly racing against someone as opposed to racing against the clock. The immediate feedback is so cool and at times stressful!

Friday, June 10, 2005

Dawn filtered through sagging low clouds. Not exactly ideal flying weather. However, Davis predicted the clouds would dry up and a mid-level inversion would cap any thunderstorm development. Sure enough, the sky opened up and things were looking good. However the wind starting picking up from the south, exactly 90 degrees cross to the only runway at Highland Aerosports. We looked around for another place to tow, but eventually the day was called.

I wasn't sure we would fly today. Cummies started forming around 8:30am, almost 4 hours earlier than yesterday. The task committee called a short downwind task to where we landed yesterday, the Massey airfield. Launch opened at 11:30 and we had a single start gate time of 12:30. I was once again one of the first to launch, but just slowly sank out. I landed with Ollie and we quickly jumped back into line. (The ground crew changed the tow direction, so at least we avoided hiking our gliders to the other end of the runway.) Now I had to rush to get to the 5 mile start line before 12:30. I found a weak, but cooperative, climb with a couple of pilots from the sports class. I went on glide towards the start gate and found another weak climb. I was quickly joined by gliders coming from all directions; including downwind. I got lucky and drifted across the start gate just a minute after 12:30. I was tailing Davis, Ollie, and Paris by 500 feet even after several climbs. The three of them centered up a nice climb faster than I did and Bubba and Russell caught me. From there Bubba and I raced about 5 miles to goal. It was awesome diving to goal through the fairly mellow air with a friend. We were close most of the way, but I pulled ahead to arrive 6 seconds earlier. That glide into goal was definitely worth the admission price for the meet!Ollie was the second rigid wing into goal behind Davis. Charlie, who left before the start gate officially opened, also made goal. It made the day easy for our new driver Christopher since the entire team was at goal.

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Today was a great day for racing. Cloudbase around 6000 feet, lift up to 500 fpm, and light winds. We didn't come back to Highland since the winds were predicted to become 15 mph later in the day. Also cloudbase was predicted to lower to 3500 feet by 5pm. Sounded like a classic convergence to me, so I was ready to go when the launch window opened. I had a nice tow and initial climb to cloud base. Ollie, Davis, Paris, and I danced around the clouds while we waited for the start gate to open. I crossed the start gate about 60 seconds after Paris, Ollie, Davis, Paul, and Russell. We had a east-west zig-zag course to an airfield to the north so we kept passing gliders going this way and that. I got seperated from the lead group at the first turnpoint but still had them in sight. Bubba caught me at the second turnpoint and we glided together half way to third turnpoint where we caught Paris and Ollie. Ollie was struggling over the field I landed in on the first day while Paris was searching for something to climb in. Paris and I finally found a decent climb but Bubba couldn't find it. Just before the third turnpoint Paris got an extra 600 feet on me before we headed across the sea breeze to snag the third turnpoint. Paris had enough altitude to reach goal, but I was short. I was close to landing 3 miles from goal when I saw a buzzard struggling to climb over some metal buildings. Although the buzzard couldn't climb, I managed to get some altitude when I saw some swallows a little to the northwest. I raced over to join them and finally got high enough to zip in goal. I was second flex wing for the day. Dennis came in about 30 minutes later. Many pilots landed on the final leg of the course after struggling with the sea breeze and developing thunderstorms. I finally got enough points today to make up for the bad flight on day one. After watching Ollie blaze by me as we passed the third turnpoint I think I need to consider using ballast to increase my wind loading.

Stable. Some pilots wondered if it was worth setting up. Davis said that if the temperature reached 90F we would have weak lift to 2000 feet and weaker still above that. The temperature when the launch window opened was 78F. The wind dummies were all sleding to about 1000 feet and then slowly circling down in weak lift. However, I was optimistic and was ready to go when Paris got a slow climb while test flying Dennis' glider. I got towed to 2000 feet and flew straight to the climb at 1500. I slowed climbed a couple hundred feet while other pilots joined from below. Our small group spread out in a nice pattern as we glided towards the start circle. The rigid wings were doing much better on the glide and working the small weak thermals. However, Paris, Bubba, and I were doing ok as we drifted towards the first turnpoint. Paris left when the climb weakened, but Bubba and I stayed longer and continued the climb. Bubba left later and then Paul in his ATOS VX left shortly before me. I went on a long sinking glide on the same path that Paul just cruised through with minimal lost. I saw Paris soaring a tree line below me. I wasted some altitude trying to connect with the thermal that Paris was working. I got the clue it was time to move on when Paris landed. I continued on and found a wicked little climb low over a barn. Me and the dozer buzzards could not climb very much. I soon lost the thermal and went on final glide to a nice field next to a farm house. I ended up second for the day. I could have gone a mile or two further with my altitude, but I wanted to find a climb that would get me into goal, not a couple more miles. It was a fun day of flying in very comfortable relaxing air. Definitely a better day of flying than most of us thought before we launched.

Stable. Some pilots wondered if it was worth setting up. Davis said that if the temperature reached 90F we would have weak lift to 2000 feet and weaker still above that. The temperature when the launch window opened was 78F. The wind dummies were all sleding to about 1000 feet and then slowly circling down in weak lift. However, I was optimistic and was ready to go when Paris got a slow climb while test flying Dennis' glider. I got towed to 2000 feet and flew straight to the climb at 1500. I slowed climbed a couple hundred feet while other pilots joined from below. Our small group spread out in a nice pattern as we glided towards the start circle. The rigid wings were doing much better on the glide and working the small weak thermals. However, Paris, Bubba, and I were doing ok as we drifted towards the first turnpoint. Paris left when the climb weakened, but Bubba and I stayed longer and continued the climb. Bubba left later and then Paul in his ATOS VX left shortly before me. I went on a long sinking glide on the same path that Paul just cruised through with minimal lost. I saw Paris soaring a tree line below me. I wasted some altitude trying to connect with the thermal that Paris was working. I got the clue it was time to move on when Paris landed. I continued on and found a wicked little climb low over a barn. Me and the dozer buzzards could not climb very much. I soon lost the thermal and went on final glide to a nice field next to a farm house. I ended up second for the day. I could have gone a mile or two further with my altitude, but I wanted to find a climb that would get me into goal, not a couple more miles. It was a fun day of flying in very comfortable relaxing air. Definitely a better day of flying than most of us thought before we launched.

I have decided this meet must be my "trial by fire" meet! It was hot, hazy, and humid but there were still some cummies forming and the task was a straight shot downwind to the Summit airport. I was one of the first to launch and quickly worked my way to cloudbase. I was in good position at the start circle with a good group of pilots and "ready to roll". After I left the start circle I noticed that my flight computer was saying that goal was 40 miles south of launch, but knew it was to the north. Uh? Crap! Think Tom, what should you do? We were given new coordinates at the pilot's meeting. I must have entered the wrong coordinates. While I was fiddling with my flight computer I kept pimping off other pilots to keep going in the right general direction. However, I lost a couple of pilots since I was not paying enough attention on climbing while I was playing with my flight computer. I tried to call my driver Brian for the correct coordinates but he never turned on the radio in my truck. So much for that idea. I was losing too much time waiting on other pilots to climb up to me so I could follow them. Um. I finally just decided to head due north until I hit water and then head east I hope I could see an airport. It was the best plan I could come up with. By that time I was behind the leaders and flying with a slower crew. I turned on the after burners and finally started moving at my pace. I noticed a highway below me and thought it might be Route 301 that I drove in on a couple of days before. If it was 301, it probably was the highway that went by the airport. Ok, follow the road. I was moving smoothly north and joined Dennis and Pete but soon left them behind after a good climb. I came to a large town when Brian finally came on the radio. I slowed down in a weak climb and started asking him where the airport was in relation to the town, but he was not sure what town I was talking about. Meanwhile, Charlie, radioed that he was 10 miles from the airport. 10 miles? He was behind me. Instead of looking forward, I looked down and just slightly forward and saw the airport. I had it on easy glide. Bummer that I wasted an extra 10 minutes circling in nothing, I could have moved up a couple of places. However, I was not complaining, I was just happy to be there since I didn't know where I was going!

Sunday, June 05, 2005

The air was so hazy this morning you had to look up to make sure the sky was truly clear. Oh, it was really hot also. Picture mid-August in New England. Our task was a 40+ mile triangle that started with a leg into the wind. It looked very stable, even after some ragged cummies formed. The wind dummies sledding didn't look promising either. However, we got in line, suited up, and launch. Many pilots took several tows before the stuck, but I was lucky and managed a slow climb to cloudbase at the whooping altitude of 2700 feet. I hung around the start circle trying to avoid some of my usual start-circle goofs. I headed towards the first turnpoint slightly downwind of the course line. It turned out that Michael Williams had the same idea. Everyone else headed further upwind to the west. We got a good climb after a long glide and then moved on. I got very low after the next glide and had to drift and struggle downwind trying to get back up. I kept watching the turnpoint get farther and farther away. Crap. I finally started climbing, but I was now far off the course line all alone trying to fly almost directly upwind. It is hard flying upwind with 50-100 fpm climbs. I finally saw Michael as he was landing and I just barely missed joining him on the ground after spottting a bald eagle climbing to the south of him. I managed a couple more climbs before the sea breeze came in an shut down most of the lift. I took a smooth glide to a large cornfield next to a farmhouse. The family was very friendly and I enjoyed talking with them as I broke down under a shade tree in their yard. Brian and Michael showed up as I zipped up the glider bag and we headed back to the flight park to watch Paris come into goal.

Friday, June 03, 2005

Although I had everything ready to go to the East Coast Championship at Highland Aerosports, I decided to drive 2.5 hours in the wrong direction to fly at West Rutland instead of driving south to Maryland to sit in the rain. Dave set an informal meeting time by saying he would be there at 11:30. Rodger was about 30 minutes ahead of me when I left home, but I caught up with him just as we reached West Rutland. Before long pilots starting showing up in the LZ. It was great seeing friends I have not seen in months. Nine pilots (Al, Aric, Chris H, Dave C, David V, Pete J, Peter K, Rodger), showed up at the LZ. We met Marshall at the gate. Pilots continued to show up throughout the entire afternoon. There was a lot of catching up to do as we made our way to launch.It was obviously soarable when we arrived, so we didn't waste time setting up. I discovered a small dimple on the inside of my leading edge, probably caused by the "dingle dangle" striking it on the ride up the rugged 4x4 "road". I carefully checked it out and decided to fly with the damage. I followed Aric as he started the parade off launch. It was soarable, but as Dave C would later comment, the air was "stiff". Not stiff as in a "stiff breeze"; more like the air made your glider feel stiff. The thermals were strong, but not necessarily big. It wasn't rough, just hard to keep the glider where you wanted it. I also noticed that the wind was stronger below 3000 feet (15 mph) than above (6 mph). This made staying in the squiggly thermals even more difficult.I had several climbs over 3800 feet, but nowhere near cloudbase. I made several runs to the west to play whenever things became crowded on the ridge. A "down" cycle a couple of hours into the flight put many of the pilots on the ground. Shortly afterwards the wind picked up and the thermals got even stronger. John, Pete, Aric, and I played around some more and then each of them eventually worked their way down to the LZ. I was playing in the valley when Rodger mentioned dinner plans. That was enough to entice me to land. Besides, 3 hours was enough of a work-out before the comp that starts on Sunday. After dinner in Ludlow, I drove to Morningside for an evening of flying lies and ***** around the fire at Camp Rob.